Research links childhood betrayal trauma to secondary psychopathy in adulthood

A new study has found that people who suffered betrayal trauma in childhood are more likely to exhibit psychopathic and callous traits in adulthood.

Betrayal trauma refers to traumatic experiences where the harm was caused by a caregiver or a close other.

The new findings are based on data from the Eugene-Springfield Community Sample, a longitudinal study designed to measure personality and symptoms of various mental disorders.

The relevant data were collected from about 750 participants at three time points between 1997 and 2006.

Those who experienced more betrayal trauma in childhood tended to have heightened dissociation.

Dissociation refers to a disconnection from reality and disengaging from the processing of emotional information.

Those with heightened dissociation, in turn, were more likely to have psychopathic personality traits.

The lead author noted that “just because someone has experienced childhood betrayal trauma doesn’t mean that they’ll automatically go on to develop traits related to psychopathy.”

“Nor that they should be demonized if they do.”

“As a society, we should try to understand that these coping mechanisms have likely helped these individuals survive and get by,” the researcher explained.

The study was published in the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation.

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